On December 18th, during a rainy afternoon in Santa Cruz, a small group converged at the Town Clock to show support for Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks. People spoke with one another while Takashi Yogi peddled a bicycle-powered
sound system. Most people at the demonstration stood under a portable shelter with a sign that stated, "Free Bradley Manning! We deserve the truth. Thank you WikiLeaks!"

Another demonstration in support of Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, with speakers and a march, is in the works for Saturday, January 8th at 1pm at the Town Clock.

The protest, in spite of occasionally driving rain, had 20-25 people at its height and lasted for an hour and a half. One of the organizers arrived late, but plenty of people filled in for him. Some came from as far away as Oakland. These photos don't reflect the numbers.

I went by at 1:30; there were 13 people. Went by at 2, there were 15 people. And that's a charitable count that includes the usual 3-4 alkies and destitute who are there 24/7, rally or no rally.

As predicted, the usual small crew. It would be generous to say there were 25 total throughout the day; there were never 25 at one time; don't think Norse was there a'tall.

Heck Steve, is that your version of "When I decide to do something I tend to do some pretty good out-reach."? Dude, that disreputable little school paper at DVC draws a bigger crowd at it's editorial board meetings. No Runninghorse? Rain made it inconvenient maybe?

I won't call it weak though; I'll call it a reality check. Yer livin in the 1/10th of 1% zone. There is no uprising waiting to follow you. Yer on the fringe. Enjoy it, yer welcome to it...but don't pretend the masses are ever gonna drink that tainted kool-aid you've been chuggin.

I did get almost 3,000 votes, but what does that have to do with anything? You've spent so much time attacking me on this protest and diverting from the real issues, what is wrong with you? Do you oppose the purposes of this protest? Do you support U.S. war crimes and attempts to stifle freedom of press?

I’ve been saying all along that this would be the much smaller of the two protests that were being planned because of short notice and the rain. It was meant to build for the next bigger action. And I thought it was good numbers for people coming out in the pouring rain. I apologize again for coming late with the signs.

The next action will be much bigger and it will be on Saturday, January 8th, 1:00 PM at the clock tower with speakers and a march. People interested in planning, endorsing, or handing out flyers should contact me at steveargue2 [at] yahoo.com.

Hey Steve and Bradley, I did not see the protest was happening in time, my bad. I was driving in the rain looking for another one... But I want to thank you Steve for the organizing, articles and great work you do in general, and Bradley for the always amazing photo journalism which adds allot to the follow up to these kind of events. There are only a handful of people whom I always read their posts and articles and your both at the top. We all know you can't count success by how many people show up to such a quickly planned protest. It was a worthy effort that you do not need to defend. Anything that brings a little more truth out into the light, or rain... is worthy. People do notice, even folks you may not think would. And slowly it does make an impact. I have some relatives who without knowing I was a supporter, certainly without prompting, went into Subrosa due to the bad press they got, they wanted to show support. These are middle class retired people who saw that Subrosa was treating the homeless better than most. They liked the concept. Point being, slowly this stuff is seen, and slowly, it makes a difference. Keep up the good work.

Thanks again to the folks who weathered the storm, the guy who brought the pavillion, the bicycle power-generator whose peddling-in-the-rain allowed folks to speak with amplified voice, to Steve for making a bunch of great signs.